No wait, scratch that; while that describes the majority of the game, there's a Framing Story. Desmond Miles is an ordinary bartender, circa September 2012, when he's kidnapped and delivered to Abstergo Industries, where Dr. Warren Vidic has him subjected to a device called the "Animus", which allows its users to experience Genetic Memory. Desmond is a descendant of Altaïr, and Abstergo wants to know what Altaïr knew.

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Altaïr's story begins when he breaks the three tenets of the Assassin's Creed on a mission to recover an artifact from Robert de Sable, a Templar leader. Altaïr kills an innocent, refuses to remain discreet by unabashedly facing the leader alone, and compromises his two brothers: one of whom is killed, while the other, Malik, loses his arm. Al Mualim, master of the Assassins, demotes Altaïr to the bottom of the ranks, strips him of most of his gear (and most of his skills, explainable in that he required the gear for many of them — no sword skills without his sword, no ledge-grabs without his gloves, etc.), but tells Altaïr that he must eliminate nine corrupt, exploitative men who are abusing the Holy Land, perpetuating the Crusades and generally kicking the dog. Altaïr has the chance to recover his lost prestige by killing these men, all of whom seem fairly confident in their righteousness when killed. Not surprisingly, there's a lot more going on behind the scenes that causes Altaïr, and his descendant Desmond, to question what is truly happening in the world around them.

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The game's plot bears many similarities to the 1938 Slovenian novel Alamut, though there are enough changes to say that it isn't an adaptation so much as a simple case of "inspired by...".

This game contains examples of:

Alas, Poor Villain: After each major mission, Altaïr hears the dying speech of each man, all of whom sincerely believe they were doing the right thing and may even have been right. There is one exception, however, when he executes the ruler of a city who was actually just murdering his people for fun.

Ambiguously Gay: Abu'l Nuqoud, the Merchant King of Damascus, has vague traces of this trope, and many gamers were quick to notice the (not so) subtle hints. He is frequently described as "odd", claims contempt for God for considering him an abomination, and is seen caressing the arms of his muscular body guards.

There's also a Turkish flag in Damascus. This is despite the fact that a.) Damascus was under control of the Ayyubid dynasty at the time whose flag or banner was completely different, b.) The Ottoman Empire (where the flag originates) wouldn't exist for another century, and c.) The modern Ottoman flag wouldn't exist for another 650 years.

Apocalyptic Log: Something like this appeared with Subject 16's encrypted messages and voice clips, especially towards the end of his sanity streak.

Asshole Victim: All of Altaïr's official targets of assassination are horrible people in addition to being Templars. He's chewed out by Malik for killing that innocent guy at the start of Solomon's Temple mission.

A Taste of Power: You start the game with maxed out equipment and techniques, as well as a nearly-maxed out health meter. However, you lose it all after the first mission (without even getting the chance to try all your abilities out) due to Altaïr's grievous abuse of said power.

Athens and Sparta: Damascus is the Athens to Acre's Sparta during the Third Crusade. Despite the warfare and violence surrounding it, the former is a bustling, colorful Merchant City, filled with amazing and lively souks, ornate palaces and drenched by the sun, while Acre is a cold, grey, bleak, coastal town. The portcullis of Damascus has merchant stands, while that of Acre has plague victims laid out. Likewise, each city has Rich, Poor and Middle District, but even the poor district of Damascus looks a lot more alive than the rich district of Acre.

Audience Surrogate: A rare In-Universe example. Altaïr (or rather the Animus' portrayal of him) looks exactly like Desmond and has a neutral American accent, presumably so Abstergo could make him more "relatable" to their test subject. The Masyaf memories in Assassin's Creed: Revelations make this even clearer, with Altaïr receiving a brand-new character model, voice actor and accent, even in the sections that take place before the start of the first game.

Authority Equals Asskicking: All of the assassination targets are Elite Mook level fighters if you go up against them toe-to-toe, and Robert De Sable and Al-Mualim are the best fighters in the game. Notable as this trope is much more absent in later games in the series.

Awesome, but Impractical: Hidden blades, in-universe. A lethal weapon that weighs close to nothing and is easy to hide sounds like nothing but good, but an apparent design flaw means you need to sever your ring finger in order for it to function properly. The removal of your finger is done during initiation to prove your devotion to the Assassins.

Awesome Mc Coolname: Altaïr ibn La-Ahad, which translates to "Eagle, son of no one" or "The Bastard Eagle". It is downplayed in Revelations which refers to him as "Altaïr, son of Umar", which would make his proper name Altaïr ibn Umar. Interestingly, his sons also bear the name "ibn La-Ahad".

Bag of Spilling: An in-game example — Altaïr loses all of his weapons and equipment after he's demoted at the beginning of the game. Hell, he even loses most of his hit points as well!

Al Mualim. Not only was he part of a Templar plot to gain control of the Piece of Eden, he counted on Altaïr to become a Jerk Ass and screw up in Solomon's Temple. Al Mualim then told his Unwitting Pawn to murder the nine Templars in cahoots with the whole plot so he could have the artifact for himself.

Robert de Sable is pretty good at this as well. When Altaïr has killed all the Templar leaders, de Sable uses the fact that they were both Crusaders and Saracens to convince King Lionheart to ally with Saladin to crush the Assassins in one go. Also he expected that Altaïr would hunt him last so he made a trap at Addin's funeral to kill him so that Altaïr wouldn't be in his way while he went to the king and try to form the alliance with the Saracens. It ends up backfiring because King Richard decides to hear out Altaïr when he pleads his case about de Sable's plan instead of simply taking his side.

Bavarian Fire Drill: You can join groups of scholars and pretend to be praying to pass through various city gates unnoticed by the guards, who normally won't let you through. They even step aside to let the group of scholars pass more easily. However, this would not work if you just do the praying posture and try to step through the gate without real scholars accompanying you. It could be justified in that Altaïr is still obviously heavily armed but being amidst a group of scholars could cause the guards to overlook that. After all, humans usually don't see what they don't expect to see.

Bitch Slap: Al Mualim slaps Altaïr after Altaïr speaks out of turn while Al Mualim is berating him for breaking the rules of the assassins.

Blade Below the Shoulder: Altaïr's default weapon for assassination is a spring-loaded blade that pops out of a gauntlet on his left hand. He can either quietly stab a guy in the back with this, or perform a dazzling leaping stab attack that gets a lot more attention.

Blaming the Railroaded Player Character: The first mission begins with Altaïr breaking the assassins' three tenets. Altaïr has his rank and cool weapons stripped, and spends the rest of the game re-earning them. It's justified by the Framing Story: Desmond is reliving his ancestor's memories, so he can't act differently.

Bookends: Some of the first lines you hear in the Animus are also among the last in the game. Specifically "He that increaseth wisdom increaseth sorrow."

More specifically, the very first scene you see in the Animus while Desmond's psyche is rejecting it is the final boss arena. Makes sense seeing that that specific memory is the one Abstergo wants to find out where the Pieces of Eden are.

Altaïr has one in the opening scene but he doesn't have it in the rest of the game. Instead, he uses throwing knives.

Brainwashed and Crazy Everyone back at Masyaf at the end of the game when Al Mualim uses the Apple of Eden to take control of everyone.

Call a Hit Point a "Smeerp": It's called synchronization in the first game, while Ezio has a straight-up health gauge in the second. It even lampshaded in the second game's manual, which features a "note" to change the name to "health" to make it feel more exciting.

Ever since the first modern Prince of Persia, Ubisoft has insisted switching the camera to the most dramatic (read: inconvenient) angle for especially difficult jumping passages. AC continues the proud tradition. The idea, in theory, is to give you a very clear view of where exactly you are supposed to jump. However, since the controls are relative to where the camera is facing, the jump itself becomes harder to perform correctly.

Since the game's camera is forced to maintain a fixed distance away from the Player Character, the brief cutscenes when Altaïr performs a counter-attack usually make the camera adjust to even more inconvenient angles, especially when fighting in cramped, narrow areas.

Captain Obvious: 'If that is what you wish'. 'It is'. Oh gee, thanks, Al-Mualim. The order you gave me, along with the instructions that accompany it weren't enough of an indicator that you wanted this to happen. Thanks for clarifying.

The Chessmaster: Al Mualim is basically moving his white knight piece through the ranks of his fellow Templars through the whole game and the whole time Altaïr thinks it is business as usual.

City Guards: Lots and lots of city guards in the cities with Altaïr's targets. They're so jumpy that they'll lay into you if you parkour around where they can see you, if you ride past at anything but the slowest speed, or even if somebody else shoves you into them.

Cliffhanger: Two of them! Altaïr sees the map of the Pieces of Eden and finds himself unable to destroy the one he has with the implication that he might turn out like the Big Bad. Desmond develops Eagle Vision and sees strange markings, in his room, written in blood.

Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: The major cities are this, even Masyaf to an extend. Damascus, proud and strong, is shaded in gold all over. Jerusalem, city of both Muslim and Jewish faith and where Malik, future best friend and closest confidant, lives is a glimmering green. Acre, torn apart by siege and sickness, is a dull gray. Masyaf is the silver of the Assassin Brotherhood. So even if you aren't sure where you stopped playing, one look at your surroundings is enough.

Conspicuously Public Assassination: One target is actually on-stage at a public execution when Altaïr takes hm out. Although it's possible to stealth-assassinate almost every mark, doing it in high-profile is just that much more fun. This trope also features in the opening cutscene.

Though Altaïr has a distinctive mode of dress, even alerted guards will fail to remember him if they lose sight of him. Also, as noted below, beggar women and lepers harass Altaïr and Altaïr only.

Grabbing, hitting, or pushing said beggars and lepers will result in a loss of sync. Luckily, the guards will only react if a leper or drunk pushes you into them. Then they attack you.

Contractual Boss Immunity: All of the Assassination Targets (including the 60 un-named Templars) are immune to throwing knives. They are not, however, immune to the one-hit-kill counter-attack of the Hidden Blade, which can be used to kill even the final bosses with one strike.

Cosmopolitan Council: The 1191 Templars included: A near even mix of five Christians and four Muslims. It's a completely even split, since the secret tenth Templar was Al Mualim.

The targets were a Frenchman (de Sable), a German (Sibrand), a scholar (Jubair), a merchant (Tamir), a slaver (Talal), a doctor (de Naplouse), a merchant king (Abul'Nuqoud), a Crusader (de Monferrat), a Saracen (Addin), and the obligatory woman Maria, the decoy for Robert near the end.

Couldn't Find a Pen: At the end of the game, Desmond gets to see some elaborate drawings made by Subject 16 in blood. There are so many of them that one has to wonder how he managed to keep the drawings so neat. Although the 'couldn't find a pen' bit is subverted by the fact that a pen was what he actually used to kill himself. He painted the walls with blood because even after being cleaned away, he knew it would still show up in Eagle Vision.

Counter Attack: Instant kill on lower enemies, usually no more than two on everyone else. It comes in three flavors. Punch/kick the enemy away for some damage, instant kill, and punch/kick to stun the enemy and initiate an instant kill if the attack button is pressed again. Enemies can counter Altaïr as well, sometimes for significant damage if they do it repeatedly. This can end up encouraging players to do nothing but use counters themselves.

Cradling Your Kill: After every assassination, Altaïr gently lowers his target to the ground. It's Assassin tradition to show respect to their targets.

Implied through the emails Desmond reads on the computers. Desmond finds out that Africa's population has been decimated by a plague; massive number of illegal immigrants are crossing the U.S.-Mexican border... into Mexico, resulting in a shooting war between the U.S. and Mexico; hurricane season no longer exists, since hurricanes happen all throughout the year thanks to climate change; and the last film studio has closed, as piracy has destroyed the movie industry. Oh yeah, and did we mention that the year is 2012?

One of the main points of Assassin's Creed was that the world is just as hellish in 2012 as it was in 1191. The Templars want to fix it, without knowing that they're doubling up the world's problems through their ways.

Hilariously, all of those modern world issues were later retconned away by Assassins Creed: Initiates, with one of the entries revealing that hacker group Erudito added that stuff to Abstergo's newsletter.

Crazy Sane: Subject 16 only managed to accomplish the very, very important task set to him by doingthings that no sane person would ever do.

Cutscene: All (save the pre-title scene) masterfully executed within the game's engine.

Cutscene Power to the Max: The pre-title cutscene shows Altaïr using a crossbow, which you can't use in-game. Granted, this cutscene was also the first promotional trailer, so it didn't change between first sighting and the game's release. Maybe he had it at the start and Al Mualim didn't give it back.

Damned by Faint Praise: Why the Damascus rafiq is so very memorable to most players. "I envy you Altaïr! Except the fact that you were beaten up and stripped of your rank, but in every other way...Oh, except for the terrible things the other Assassins say about you, but yes, aside from the failure and the hatred, yes, aside from those things, I envy you very much!"

Death by Irony: Majd Addin gets assassinated hosting a public execution.

Difficult, but Awesome: Damn the Hidden Blade counters are very hard to time. Once you master them, though, everyone will die.

Disc-One Final Boss: The first Jerusalem assassination target, the slaver Talal comes across like this. Though he can be assassinated before Garnier de Naplouse in Acre, according to the official chronology he was killed after Garnier, and as such finishes out the first act of the game, by completing the first assassinations in all three cities. Talal also operates out of the Rich District of Jerusalem, a very opulent area that contrasts sharply with the slums of Damascus and Acre's Poor Districts where Tamir and Garnier lurked. Also, unlike Tamir and Garnier, who can, with some difficulty, be stealth-killed, Talal must be confronted, luring Altair into his warehouse, subjecting him to Evil Gloating, and then hitting him with a Multi-Mook Melee against his cadre of personal guards. After you take them out, the fight then spills into the streets as Talal tries to flee, pelting you with arrows if he can manage enough distance. When he dies, Talal also drops some pretty big hints about being connected to the other targets (their identities as Templars is not yet known to Altaïr), and after he dies, the very public nature of his death causes a still-angry Malik to read Altair the riot act for his haphazard handling of the situation. It's a much more in-depth affair than the assassinating of Tamir and Garnier, and is obviously meant to prepare the player for the more advanced sections of the game to come.

Disc-One Nuke: You get the Hidden Blade and counter fairly early, so if you bother to master it, little can give you trouble in a straight fight.

There is a glitch in certain versions of the game that let you spawn a second Altaïr who mimics the actions of the first one. Controlling him in a fight against enemies is a bit difficult, but technically possible. You can even hidden blade assassinate yourself, which works out about as well as you'd expect.

For starters, there are a lot less features in this game compared to later ones, to the point where it's a tech demo in comparison. Exposition is delivered in much larger chunks, sometimes awkwardly. Sidequests consist of information gathering in various forms, something that was downplayed or worked into the actual story later in the series. Also the "historical tourism" element is not as prevalent in this game than in the later entries, in that while it does recreate famous monuments like the Dome on the Rock and the Ummayad Mosque, it does not draw attention to it via Database Entries like the sequels do. The Crusades also serve more as a backdrop than the historical events of the succeeding games.

Also, instead of being ancient, secret organisations from the shadows, the Assassins and Templars are known to everybody and have their own cities and army.

Elite Mooks: There are various grades of guards, up to the most heavily-armoured ones and the generic Templars, who are identical ability-wise to a full-powered Altaïr.

Enemy Mine: By the end of the game de Sable is trying to initiate such a scenario by turning both King Richard's Crusaders and the Saladin's Saracen forces against the Assassin brotherhood as Altaïr has taken out vital personnel on both sides of the conflict.

Evil Old Folks: Al Mualim, the old mentor of the Assassin Brotherhood, is a devious chessmaster.

Expository Gameplay Limitation: There are several occasions in which Altaïr is having a scripted conversation with another character and the sequences are functionally cutscenes, but the player is still free to walk around the room in question.

Eye Scream: One of the hidden blade counters you can do involves stabbing the unfortunate victim in the eye.

Fantastic Catholicism: And Fantastic Shi'a Islam of the Assassins, for that matter, as both the Assassins and the Templars are reimaged as age-old secret societies involving precursor super tech.

Fingore: Altaïr's left ring finger is replaced by a hidden blade. Or rather, it was removed to allow the hidden blade to be used without injuring him. The whole cutting finger thing is apparently a trial to prove one is committed to the cause. As Mentor, Altaïr redesigns the hidden blade to make that obsolete.

Fire-Forged Friends: Altaïr and Malik gradually become friendly as they work together on missions and confront their evil superior.

Fractional Winning Condition: Each bureau head gives you six different assignments to investigate a certain target before assassinating him. You only needed to accomplish three to proceed to the assassination mission and move on, but if you proceeded to finish off every mission, you not only got an achievement for accomplishing every mission but also get bonus experience so you could get extra upgrades like more health.

Gaia's Lament: Implied by the emails. One e-mail states that due to the consistency of hurricanes in America, the term "Hurricane Season" became superfluous.

Game-Breaking Bug: The game initially shipped with a doozy of a bug occuring in the Arsuf level on the Xbox 360 version. Halfway through the level the landscape would become a void and Animus glitches would appear as if signifying Desmond desynchronising. If you didn't fall through the level geography to your death at this point you would encounter an Altaïr clone that copies your moves as you make them. Then the cutscene of Altaïr's final confrontation with de Sable would not trigger, leaving the game in a state of limbo as you stand staring at motionless Templars. Needless to say this made the game Unwinnable until it was patched.

Genghis Gambit: After Altaïr murders several prominent Templars on both sides of the conflict, Robert De Sable tries to convince King Richard to form a truce with the Saracens against the threat posed to both by the Assassins. Then later it turns out that this was Al-Mualim's plan all along.

Genius Bruiser: Malik Al'Sayf. He's apparently a cartographer by trade, since you walk in on him at least once while he's drawing a complicated map of Jerusalem. It's a profession that requires a lot of intelligence and a superb memory, and obviously, he's also an Assassin where such things come in handy.

Gotta Catch Them All: The game keeps track of all the flags you have collected and the number of generic Templars you kill. However, there is no reward for completing these optional objectives, beyond the usual achievements in the 360 version. There are 420 of them; unmarked. At least the second game gave you a map for treasures and tombs and marked important buildings for secret signs, leaving only 100 feathers.

Gotta Kill Em All: The Templars, both named and unnamed, are marked for death and all must be killed for 100% completion.

Gratuitous Foreign Language: Altaïr says "La shaaya waqin moutlaq bale kouloun moumkin" ("Nothing is true, everything is permitted") when he kills Al Mualim at the end without the line being translated. In addition, the guy that voiced Altaïr (in the first game) has an American accent, so even Arabic speakers were left scratching their heads during this scene.

Groin Attack: Altaïr can use this as part of his many bastardly counter attacks. However, the guards are also well versed in groin-fu.

The Guards Must Be Crazy: Guards frequently mistake a very well-armed man in a white robe for a monk. They can also be right next to a haystack and not notice Altaïr jumping into it. They will also chase Altaïr up a roof, run right past the small roof garden he is hiding in, and never bother to pull back the curtains and see if there's an assassin hiding in there.

The game never informs you that it's possible to perform counter-kills with the hidden blade. This wouldn't be a problem, except enemy groups get very large toward the end of the game, making it necessary to thin down their numbers quickly.

Air assassination can be performed in this game, though from smaller height than in sequels

Heavily Armored Mook: Guards' armour increases as they get more elite. A useful clue for telling them apart is their headgear; the more elaborate, the more elite.

Highly Visible Ninja: Altaïr's Le Parkour antics, which often draw observations from the crowd that "he must be insane!" Also, it's VERY easy to forget about the game's supposed stealth-based gameplay and simply run through the city, silencing any alarms that are raised by killing the 3 or 4 guards that end up chasing you. This is especially true since the game itself frequently encourages you to get into highly visible sword fights with groups of guards to prevent them from raping or robbing civilians (saving said civilians being a recruitment method and part of achieving 100% Completion). Then again, the other civilians have fled, and you need to hide yourself afterward.

Historical Villain Upgrade: The main members of the Knights Templar and the Saracens are portrayed as misguided and evil throughout the game. Knights Templar such as Sibrand, Garnier de Naplouse, William of Montferrat, and other Templars were made significantly more evil than their Real Life counterparts, who are depicted as chivalrous knights. Even Richard the Lionheart is portrayed as a cynical leader at the end of the game, who cannot comprehend the difference between being driven by vengeance and fighting for peace.

Hollywood Atheist: Sibrand is a pretty egregious example in a world filled with holy warriors and people serene in their death. He's become a paranoid wreck because he doesn't believe in an afterlife. Jubair exhibits lesser tendencies in that he's started a campaign of book-burning because he wants to end a war justified over religion by... indiscriminately destroying all written knowledge.

Identical Grandson: Desmond and his ancestors all look exactly alike, although it's unclear whether they actually are identical or if Desmond is "projecting" his own residual self-image onto them, which would also explain why Altaïr has the only American accent in the Holy Land.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations revisits Altaïr in select missions, and he looks and sounds completely different, even in one of the exact moments from the first game which is revisited. The justification seems to be that the earlier, more primitive Animus from the first game superimposed Desmond's face and voice over Altaïr in order for him to more easily sync up with his ancestor.

Jerk Ass: Any number of the assassination targets, but rather amusingly, Altair, the Player Character, starts the game as a massive tool. He's an arrogant, pain-in-the-ass screw-up who ignores his brotherhood's creed.

Justified Trope: The metaplot means that the artificiality typical of games is justified as being a side-effect of the Animus.

Altaïr himself gets one at the start of the game; his murder of an innocent old man being a Establishing Character Moment that shows how arrogant and ruthless he is. Several of the people he must interrogate are clearly innocent, and at least one is not only sympathetic to his cause but thinks his target is despicable and wholeheartedly wishes to help stop him. Altaïr will always kill them in cold blood anyway... but he equally clearly regrets the necessary Dirty Business. Letting anyone know about his mission could compromise it and thus the Brotherhood.

Knight Templar: Both the Knight Templar themselves and Al-Mualim's group show aspects of this, willing to manipulate and kill for the sake of their own absolute conception of good. Altaïr especially initially shows little qualm in killing anyone related to his targets simply after merely being told that they must die.

Kung Fu-Proof Mook: Some of the guards can break free of grabs and block frontal assassination attempts.

Lady of War: Maria would be considered this considering that she fights in armor like an elite mook.

Land in the Saddle: The player can pull off this move by having Altaïr parkour onto his horse instead of a building.

Law of 100: There are 100 flags hidden throughout the Kingdom and each of the three cities. Masyaf, being smaller, only has twenty flags.

Limited Wardrobe: Assassins, during the Crusades at least, have a tendency to wear white clothing. This is lampshaded when Desmond checks the closet in his room, and sees nothing but dull jeans and white hoodies.

Lighter and Softer: The real assassins were not protectors of freedom. The only members of the order that did the killing were the ones at the bottom of the hierarchy, and they rarely (if ever) survived their missions. The assassins were hated by both the Christians and the Saracens, and the order only managed to last for as long as it did because both sides recognized their value as mercenaries and contract-killers.

A Lighter Shade of Grey: What's the difference between the Assassins and the Templars? The Assassins don't seek to control others, while the Templars do. However, their goals are similar. Unfortunately such rhetoric is what allows Al Mualim to use Altaïr to clear his path via assassination, proclaiming one whilst practicing the other.

Living Legend: Altaïr begins the game famous only among the Assassins, and then only for his skill. By the end, he's hated and feared by Christians and Saracens alike, but the Assassins have come to love him.

Loading Screen: The voice of the Animus gives you a (not so helpful) gameplay hint while you can take the protagonist through white foggy nothingness, while you wait for the next memory to load. For example:

Animus: Use Counter Attacks to deal with large groups of enemies.

Player: I HAVEN'T EVEN UNLOCKED THAT YET!

Loads and Loads of Loading: It takes eleven steps, all of them involving loading or at least thematic pauses, to exit the PC version of the first game. You can, however, use Alt+ F4 with no fear of save-game corruption, so long as the indicator that the game is being saved isn't displayed when you press it.

Losing the Team Spirit: Kill lots of guards quickly. The remainder will flee or fall to their knees and beg for mercy.

Lost in a Crowd: A crucial part of gameplay is Altaïr, in his white robe, being able to hide in a cluster of wandering scholars, also in white robes.

The Main Characters Do Everything: Justified and averted on two counts. It's implied that novice Assassins usually do all the investigation stuff and also that the Bureau leaders (rafiqs) typically provide more up-front information to those on assignment. Altaïr hasn't had to do it since he became master level. He has to do it now because he's been demoted back to novice level and also has stepped on a lot of toes in the past. It's also averted in that Pick-Pocket targets or Assassin Informers have already done some of the leg work for him.

Mercy Kill: If you have a quick eye (or can hear incessant pained moaning), you'll notice that sometimes when you've dealt with a guard using the short blade or the sword, they're only mortally wounded and not dead yet (when you see their bodies outlined in white, meaning you can still target them). You can kill the already doomed soldier by walking over to them and stabbing them in the face with the Assassination Blade.

Mission Creep: Discussed many times by Altair, Al Mualim and the various Rafiqs. Altair is told to perform simple tasks (kill 9 Templars) but finds that their motivations and the reasons for killing them, and the connections between the targets hint at something bigger:

Al Mualim:Altair, your mission has not changed. Merely the context within which you perceive it.

Mook Chivalry: Enemies rarely attack together, which lets you abuse Counter Attacks to no end. Sometimes they do attack during counter animations, but Altaïr is invincible during that time which makes the entire attempt pointless. Higher-tier enemies eventually begin to break your guard to prevent you from holding block all the time; Desmond still loses Synch when they attack. It is suddenly subverted in the final confrontation, but counter kills take away most of the edge.

Murder, Inc.: A rare quasi-heroic version appears in the form of the hashashin themselves. The Brotherhood kills to promote peace in the Holy Land.

Never Hurt an Innocent: One of the rules of the Hashshashins is "stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent". Altaïr breaking it is one of the reasons why he's stripped of his rank. You can also kill innocents, but at the cost of Sync. This is, however, averted once you beat the game and replay old memories after the credits roll. Altaïr can kill hordes of innocent people and receive no Sync penalty for doing so.

New Media Are Evil: In universe example. One of the news reports Desmond can read in the present states that due to advances in video game technology, the film industry has been killed off.

Nice Job Fixing It, Villain!: Altaïr uses his Assassin training that allows him to "pierce the illusion" and see the world the way it really is — taught to him by Al Mualim over the course of the story — to pierce the illusion created by the Piece of Eden and kill Al Mualim.

Ninja: At least, from a certain point of view. The Ninja, the Sulsa (the Korean organizations on which the Ninja were based), and the Assassins all used techniques which originated with strategists and soldiers who fled China in the collapse of the T'ang Dynasty, in the 600s AD. There is very little information about this on the Internet.

Noob Cave: The Damascus Poor District, where your first assassination target is located, is this; there are few rooftop archers, which makes traversing the area easier, and the guards on the street are the weakest in the game. Also, the investigation requirements for assassinating Tamir are rather easy; you only need to complete 2 investigation memories, and there's three available eavesdropping missions, which are very passive and don't require much effort (the PC version is different, however). There's also little in the way of obstacles like beggars and madmen to get in your way. Later assassinations will add more archers, tougher guards, and cut back on the number of eavesdropping missions while increasing the number of total investigation memories needed and adding in inconveniently-placed beggars and madmen. You'll come back, though, since the Assassin's Bureau for Damascus is located in the Poor District, but after you assassinate Tamir there's no real reason for you to linger unless you still have side objectives to complete.

No Such Thing as Wizard Jesus: The Templar researcher speculates that the Piece of Eden, along other artifacts like it, was the effector behind such miracles as the Parting of the Red Sea, the success of the Trojan Horse, the miracles surrounding 'the Christ-figure' and the plagues of Egypt, among other things.

Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Altaïr sticks out like a sore thumb with his unquestionably American accent in the middle of a sea of Arabic and English accents. This is hand waved as a side-effect of the Animus. He is, however, pretty much the only one to consistently get the pronunciation of Arabic names and phrases right — which still needs to be hand waved a la Animus, since it's modern Arabic. This is done away with in AC: Bloodlines and Assassin's Creed: Revelations, where Altaïr's thick Arabic accent is a thing of beauty.

NPC Amnesia: An essential quirk of the game, as anonymity (and thus stealth) would quickly become impossible if the guards remembered what Altaïr looks like. However, they sometimes say "we've fought before" during combat, so apparently they can at least recognize him in that context.

Quite a few of them littered throughout the game, but the biggest one comes at the very end when Al Mualim uses the Piece of Eden to seemingly resurrect Altaïr's nine assassination targets and sics them on him all at once. Lucky for the player, they're just regular soldiers in the guise of the boss characters and behave as such in combat. Al Mualim himself... not so much.

Altaïr'senemies will often be visibly shocked when he kills their comrades — sometimes so much that they flee rather than face him alone. They will also often cringe and drop their guard after seeing Altaïr perform a finishing move, leaving them open to an instant kill with the hidden blade.

One-Hit Kill: Counters with the hidden blade, assuming you time it correctly. Other weapons have a wider window of opportunity, but in return the hidden blade's counter attacks are always lethal.

One-Man Army: Altaïr. It is entirely possible to run around the Kingdom and cheerfully slaughter entire enemy camps as well as massacre the equivalent of a few small armies. If the timing of the hidden blade's counter-attack has been mastered, it is also entirely possible for Altaïr to slaughter all of the aforementioned enemies without taking a single scratch. In fact, when Altaïr gets hit, Desmond gets desynchronized with his memories. In other words, the real Altaïr never got hit!

The Order: Both the Assassins and, naturally, The Knights Templar are present, among others. The Assassins, for instance, have a base where they train, different roles to support the organization's mission, and a Creed that guides them.

The Outside World: At age 16, Desmond Miles runs away from his family's hidden Assassin commune. He assumes that his parents are Crazy Survivalist types and that all their warnings about Abstergo Industries' plot to take over the world is nonsense... until he's kidnapped by Abstergo nine years later. This is apparent during the first hour of the game.

Oh, that man wearing all those weapons is praying, he's obviously not an Assassin. Then again, given how dangerous the area is for Christian clerics, maybe Reality Is Unrealistic.

Inverted with one of Altaïr's later targets. After learning of Altaïr's work, he becomes paranoid and publicly kills an actual man of the cloth, proclaiming him to be an Assassin. Of course, Altaïr is in the exact same crowd.

During the last assassination mission, the person you assume to be Robert de Sable is wearing a helmet concealing his face. While not exactly a paper thin disguise, the fact that "Robert" suddenly speaks with a woman's voice is a big hint. Also "Robert's" chest sticks out a little more than is normal for a man—not blatantly obvious as the armor conceals the discrepancy somewhat, but still noticeable.

And in the end, the big reveal is slightly less silly than The Da Vinci Code's "Jesus had kids! Oh noes!" reveal. From the cauldron of the Crusades and the Middle East, all Ubisoft can produce is a world-weary existentialism as bland and inoffensive as vanilla ice cream, with a quote from Ecclesiastes like a cherry on top...Talk more about the Prophet, peace be upon Him. Put a Jewish character in the game and let him be reviled. Show the Crusaders as something other than the dudes playing the role of the cops from GTA.

The Power of Friendship: Befriending all the local vigilantes provides Altaïr with a district wide support system which can do everything from A.) blocking guards to aid escape, B.) aiding in sword fights by holding guards in place, and C.) preventing Assassination Targets from running away.

Somewhat subtle, as the Piece of Eden is clearly a piece of high-technology in 1191 AD, and it had to be left by someone, but there is no lip-service to this fact. As well, Vidic says that all technology is the result of the Templars choosing "inventors" through history to pretend to invent them, and they are actually "gifts from those who came before".

When Altaïr activates the Piece of Eden at the end of the game, it brings up a mini-globe, which even includes the yet-undiscovered New World.

The guys in Damascus and Jerusalem that spout the same looping speech over and over again about Saladin fighting the Christian armies, and their enemy counterparts (Richard fighting the Saracens) in Acre. Chances are you will be able to memorize these speeches by the end of the game.

Also, each person Altaïr interrogates spouts off a speech like this before Altaïr starts stalking them. For instance, Talal is not a slaver but someone who pays well for an honest day's work.

Regenerating Health: Courtesy of the Synchronization mechanic, Desmond's "health bar" will recover if he stays out of sight for a while because this is following the Assassin's Creed and helping him resynch with his ancestor.

There were probably not any free-running knife-hurling Assassins with a knife for a left ring finger in the twelfth century, but damn, stabbing a guard in the back of the face is fun.

Not to mention using that same nifty switchblade in combat to make it so that you can only kill by countering, which is probably a very bad idea since it looks so delicate. Regardless, Altaïr has no problems puncturing chain mail with it when he's not doing something particularly nasty like stabbing them in the eye.

Sequel Hook: The game abruptly ends with the protagonist discovering that his bedroom is actually a Room Full of Crazy with several plot threads left dangling.

Shout-Out: Interestingly enough, there is a shout out to the original book, Alamut and some of the original anecdotes about the Assassins as a whole. At Masayaf, if one goes out the exit at the rear of the fortress, there is a space that is best known for being the site of the final battle. However, go there before then and the garden in the back of the fortress will be filled with provocatively dressed women wandering about. In addition to this, the very first sequence in the game, when Desmond wakes up in the animus for the first time, (this is even before the tutorial) a brief sequence will feature Desmond as Altaïr wandering about in this space, surrounded closely by the aforementioned women. This combined by the dazed effect caused by the low synchronization rate Desmond has at the beginning of the game are a clear reference to the stories about how the leader of the Assassins would smuggle his chosen people into a secret garden filled with beautiful women and other pleasures while they were drugged, thus giving his followers the impression that he could send them into paradise at will, which is what instills such intense loyalty to the leader of the Assassins. In the novel it is this revelation (rather than the pieces of Eden) that fuels the conflict.

Sinister Surveillance: Desmond's bedroom and bathroom are full of cameras, but you're free to do anything: even take a look at the latest plans of the bad guys. There's a reason for it: it's revealed in later games that the video feed was tampered with.

Soft Water: Or rather Soft Hay; no matter how far it is to the ground when you jump off a building, you won't take any damage at all as long as you land in haystacks. We do mean any height, like off the very top of the cathedral in Acre, which realistically would render Altaïr a messy stain on the cobblestones.

Spam Attack: One of the Hidden Blade counter animations is a series of slashes to the throat.

For people who want to know about the historical events that followed Kingdom of Heaven, the game offers some answers (outside the fictional Assassins/Templars war) as it's set in the aftermath of the conquest of the Holy Land by Saladin.

Stealth Insult: The Damascus rafiq. "I envy you, Altaïr! Well, not the part where you were beaten and stripped of your rank, but I envy everything else! Oh, except for the terrible things the other Assassins say about you, but yes, aside from the failure and the hatred, yes, aside from those things, I envy you very much!"

Strong Flesh, Weak Steel: Plate-armored knights aren't much more resistant to a bare-handed beating than other less-armored guards.

Due to some apparent level of sadism in the works of the Ubisoft team, one of the main assassinations takes place in the port of Acre, with the player forced to negotiate his way to the target over water on conveniently placed strings of poles, small boats, and narrow docks rampant with jumpy guard patrols and drunken sailors who find Altaïr to just look so very pushable. For the average gamer, the whole segment is an endurance test, due to the horrendous number of times a minor miscalculation will send a skilled Master Assassin leaping not safely to the next foothold, but flailing like a loon into instant death. At the end of the day, being able to laugh this off as a complete and utter failure on the part of the otherwise badass Master Assassin might actually make the player feel marginally better about the whole ordeal.

Vidic:When we switched the Animus control scheme to use standard video-game controls I guessed that the subject's learning curve would improve, but the increased acclimatization rate we are seeing with these slacker types is astounding.

In addition, it's mentioned in the Crapsack World e-mails that the film industry is dead... partially because of video games. Y'know, like the game you are playing instead of watching a movie.

Talking Is a Free Action: Every target in the game talks at length with Altaïr while dying and surrounded by either guards of civilians. It's handwaved away as a glitch that doesn't match up the simulation to the conversation after — especially when one of the targets freely walks around to taunt Altaïr before dying, not to mention how Altaïr takes "Robert" down and lets "him" go when he sees Maria.

The Middle Ages: The backdrop for the game is the Third Crusade, where King Richard squared off against Saladin.

The War Sequence: On the road to Arsuf Altaïr will be assaulted by waves after waves of Saracens and Crusaders. Unlike other encounters, these are not skippable and everyone must be killed before you can proceed. The last segment involves fighting ten Templars at once.

Timed Mission: During investigation into a target, Altaïr can talk to Informers, who will ask Altaïr to either collect flags or kill certain guards within a time limit. Setting off an alert cancels the mission until you recover anonymity and talk to the Informer again.

Torture First, Ask Questions Later: If you want to interrogate someone, you have to beat them up first. You don't even have the option of asking first. It's not like it matters since all Interrogation objectives end with a shanking anyway, regardless of the intent of the individual sharing the information. Even if Altaïr just asked politely and they gave an honest answer he has to neutralize the informant afterwards to protect his overall mission.

Training Dummy: The two young Assassins in the training area are used to train the player in Assassin combat skills. In-universe, it is Altaïr who is training them by providing an example to emulate. "That, my students, is how we all should fight."

Translation Convention: Averted for the most part in the game, due to the Animus automatically translating foreign dialogue.

Translator Microbes: The Animus "interprets" all essential dialogue that takes place in Altaïr's memories for Desmond, translating it into understandable English. Other dialogue, however, is heard in Arabic, Turkish, French and German.

Lucy: I can set it to be more authentic if you'd like, but... you ever read Chaucer? Desmond:Who?Lucy: ...Yeah, definitely not for you.

Travelling at the Speed of Plot: The game is very fond of this one. Altaïr travels hundreds of miles to his target cities and frequently manages to arrive just in time for a major event that will aid in his assassination attempt, such as William of Montferrat meeting with the King, or Majd Addin's funeral. Also, right at the beginning, Malik manages to steal the Piece of Eden, escape Robert de Sablé and arrive in Masyaf right after Altaïr despite being severely injured. When you consider that he had to travel hundreds of miles from Jerusalem to Masyaf with this terrible arm injury it's little wonder it ends up being amputated. At the climax of the game, Altaïr goes to confront Robert, whilst Malik decides to do more digging in Jerusalem before returning to Masyaf. Altaïr arrives at Arsuf just in time to stop Robert from carrying out his plot, then returns to Masyaf, where Malik just so happens to arrive in time to help Altaïr. This last one even receives a Lampshade Hanging from Altaïr.

Trial by Combat: King Richard can't tell who's right, Altaïr or Robert, so he tells them to fight and let God support the one who's right.

The Unseen: You hear Saladin's name a lot over the course of the game, but he never makes an actual appearance. Concept art of him exists, suggesting he was originally planned to appear in the game.

Unusable Enemy Equipment: Altaïr is unable to pick up a fallen foe's blade. Not that they could replace his trusty hidden blade...

Video Game Caring Potential: Saving random citizens always feels rewarding, though by the end of the game you can usually recite their thank you speeches by heart. Also, if you hang around the vigilantes they say nice things about you, and in some assassinations they even obstruct your target from leaving! There's just something so satisfying of being on the receiving end of civilian AI interference for a change.

Some of Altaïr's combo kills and counters are squickworthy in their efficient brutality. Especially the Assassin blade counter kills. You'll wince at some of them. If you'll notice, so will some of the guards who saw it. Several short-blade counter kills include throat slits complete with blood-gurgling sounds, and subduing victims before Altaïr brutally stabs the guy right in his skull using two hands; accompanied by a particularly... crunchy sound.

When you're replaying missions after beating the game, chances are you're stealth-killing every beggar woman who approaches you, right in the middle of their pleas for coin because they're sick and starving. Well, now they'll never be hungry or sick again. Or the flailing lepers who trip you up for daring to come within arm's reach of them; shanking those buggers is truly a cathartic feeling.

For some reason, the game allows you to kill Assassins in Masyaf with no penalty, which defies the third tenet of the Creed: Never compromise the Brotherhood. Killing a brother counts as compromising, right?

Even before you beat the game, there are no real negative consequences for playing Civilian Skittles on horseback.

If you're feeling particularly sadistic, you can stab a civilian you just saved. Do it fast enough and you can even earn back the lost sync when the game gives you the sync for successfully saving the civilian in the first place.

Video Game Cruelty Punishment: Killing civilians costs Synchronization. Killing three within a short time automatically desynchronizes you, even if you still have Synch to spare. Once you beat the game, though, feel free to shank away — the penalties are gone.

Video Game Geography: Acre, Damascus, Jerusalem, and Arsuf are all within five minutes' ride of each other. Justified though since the Animus cuts together relevant memories and eventless riding of 200km is not seen as such. We all know what Crusades do to the traffic. Late in the game, Altaïr says that "weeks" have passed since he started this assignment.

Video Game Historical Revisionism: The nine marks died or disappeared around 1191, but the game posits that the Templars rewrote the history books to cover up the game's plot. This is specifically noted in-game when Desmond notes that some things seem off or historically incorrect. It is further lampshaded by Vidic, saying that people can write down whatever they please, but the Animus shows the real story.

Some of Altaïr's assassination targets could be considered this. Even Altaïr himself said that while they may have had pure reasons for what they were doing, they were going about it the wrong way.

Altaïr can also qualify as this, using brutal executions and combat to promote peace.

A Wizard Did It: Notice a Plot Hole? Historical inaccuracy? Any gameplay element that just doesn't make sense? The Animus did it!

The historical inaccuracies part is lampshaded in the first game. The explanation for this, however, is that the Templars covered up the truth, with Vidic telling Desmond that he shouldn't trust books.

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